Neighbors rally against Davenport school boundary change

That was the sentiment Wednesday night of about 40 people who live in the Harrison Elementary School district to a school boundary shift that could put them in the Fillmore Elementary School district.

The change is the latest variation of an effort to redraw Davenport Community School District school boundaries.

“This is going to affect property values tremendously,” said Dan Kivlin, who lives on West 60th Street. “Neighbors have put in a lot of time and effort to make this a great neighborhood school.”

Kivlin and other neighbors on 60th and 61st streets talked about the impact of the boundary change during a lengthy public forum held by district administrators.

The district has been working since the fall to recommend boundary changes to the school board in an effort to balance enrollment and alleviate overcrowding at Harrison, Garfield and Washington elementary schools.

Harrison is currently at 99 percent capacity.

Superintendent Art Tate said the district hopes to get each building at 85 percent capacity, which could take four or five year to achieve.

Tate told Wednesday's audience that the board could vote on the recommendations at its May 28 meeting.

The district held six public forums earlier this year to get feedback on the community, which Tate then presented to the board.

After many discussions, the board was in agreement on all boundaries except Harrison and Fillmore.

Under the new proposal, students who live on the south side of 60th Street will go to Harrison and students who live on the north side of the street will go to Fillmore.

Tate said the district could take students from the northeastern part of the district and send them to Fillmore. However, the district has a diversity plan in place to try and balance populations by looking at the number of students who receive free or reduced lunch and by the students' academic achievement.

Fillmore already has a high population of those students, Tate said.

Tate said the plan, which was approved in 2008, has not been closely followed and is something that board will need to look at.

Residents who attended Wednesday's forum expressed concern that their students, who walk less than a mile to Harrison, would have to be bused at least three times that distance or more to Fillmore.

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Scott Martin, the district's operation director, said a bus that runs three routes typically costs between $12,000 and $13,000 annually.

Many said they specifically moved to 60th or 61st streets so their children could attend Harrison.

A grandfather clause guarantees that students already enrolled in a certain school can remain there and or students who have a sibling at another school may stay together.

Michelle Collins said she and her husband, Jeremy, bought their house on 60th Street 13 years ago because it was within walking distance of Harrison and other area schools.

A teacher at Harrison, Collins urged the district to address enrollment issues by weeding out students whose parents use false addresses so they can go to a particular school and require students to provide documentation of their addresses.

"Changing boundaries is going to cost a lot of money, and it's a decision that deserves to have all the facts," she said.

Some said it would be easier to go with the district's original plan to cut Kimberly Village from the Harrison district because those students live farther from the school and need to be bused.

IF YOU GO

The Davenport Community School District will host its final ALICE forum from 6-7:30 p.m.today at Williams Intermediate School, 3040 N. Division St.

ALICE stands for alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate, and provides age-appropriate options in the event of a school safety situation, such as an armed intruder.

The next school board meeting is 7 p.m. Monday on the third-floor of the Davenport Schools Achievement Service Center, 1606 Brady St.